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| What Happened in Salsa Team Canada 2002... | |
| August 26, 2002 Salsa Team Canada will be performing in Montreal! It's finally confirmed... Salsa Team Canada will be performing on Friday, August 30th at Salsatheque Nightclub at 1:30 am, and again on Sunday, September 1st at the Montreal Salsa Congress. Have you seen our Puerto Rico Salsa Congress Photo Gallery? If not, click here for all the fun and action in Puerto Rico! Also, Salsa Team Canada will be auditioning for new dancers later this year, so stay tuned, or email Sonia or Rose for more information! August 6, 2002 Canada makes it's mark in Puerto Rico... Well, I'm finally back to home sweet home... (although I wished I could have stayed a few more days and had a real vacation) and there's soooo much to review, update and think about... Although we did get a standing ovation, it's hard to know what was going through people's minds about our performance. From the first moment I witnessed the first rehearsal in Montreal, I had a gut feeling that this routine would be a winner and told the team that if we pulled it off cleanly -- we would make an impact due to the diversity of our routine. But then as I started seeing how amazing other team performances were, the elaborate costumes, and how the level of dancing was raised once again, I started to doubt the impact of our choreography until we received the standing ovation Friday night. After the show and over the course of the next few days, there were some professional dance instructors whom I would never expect to come up and congratulate us, but did. I've even heard that we've already started the ball rolling for other teams who may try to pull off what we did in Canada! We also made an impact on non-dancers who were totally blown away by the whole production as we had anywhere from 4 up to 43 dancers on stage at one time with so many transitions that no one knew where to look at any given time; and I think that's one of the strengths of our whole routine -- the variety and diversity in the transitions and dance styles. And when I started to catch up on all the emails from the past week, my internet friend, Juan from Miami, found a discussion forum which had some great responses about Salsa Team Canada and Canadians in general... "I just got back from San Juan this morning, and my god, I had the best time ever at the Salsa Congress! The dancers, the performances (the Canadian and Italian performances stand out in my mind...)... The various Canadian dance teams from Toronto, Ottowa and Montreal. Plus their combined performance Friday night which meant all 3 cities had a piece of choreography to learn on their own, separated from the other teams, and then perform ALL together on stage. Which meant about 43 dancers on the stage at any given time. To say that they won the audience over is an understate-ment. Team Canada basically raised the bar for teamwork and while they never said anything themselves, the emcees at the Congress said that Canada's performance was like an open challenge to other countries and cities to unite and put a routine together. Could you imagine all of NYC uniting? Or LA? I'd think some egos would prevent it from happening. On the other hand, it would be SO DAMN COOL if it happened and was pulled together." Beto Zaleta, DC Way to go -- Salsa Team Canada, along with the Toronto dance teams of Salsation, Latin Energy, Los Salsomanos and Strickly Salsa, Sonia & Moris from Montreal and Urban Beat from Ottawa! We did what we set out to do, make our mark internationally and let the world know that Canada can dance! Rose, Toronto STC Coordinator August 3, 2002 (from Puerto Rico) Salsa Team Canada gets standing ovation! What a high – I still haven’t come down after last night. We pulled it off, we were chosen to close Friday night’s show ahead of acts, such as Descarga Latina and Salsa Brava; and that is one of the BIGGEST honours you can get! But then to nail the no. and get a STANDING OVATION from the crowd (not just Canada!) made it all worthwhile. WE DID IT! Just writing this makes me emotional – not only because of all the hard work Sonia and I and many others put in this week, but all the horribly bad moments (which we needed) like our first horrible practice on Tuesday where we just looked like we didn’t know what we were doing due to the changes in the stage to the dancers who forgot it wasn’t just a holiday (but time to work and make it for rehearsals when all you want to do is sunbathe or sightsee), to the shocking mistakes you make when you least expect it (i.e. I fell during the finale on our LAST rehearsal on stage to check out the lighting). And seconds before performance time, Ana’s shoe (Toronto dancer) broke and they safety-pinned it for her while her legs were absolutely shaking. There were so many stressful, unforgettable moments. After falling during the finale, I worked for about an hour after to nail everything that went wrong with my partner, Eric, but during the hip-hop section on stage, I actually had a quick instant panic-attack and actually wanted to tell my partner that I couldn’t’ do it, but then I remembered two years ago at the Berlin Salsa Competition when we were the last couple of about 14? Competitors and I was so stressed that I kept doing splits to calm myself down and was so pumped after the contest that I couldn’t sleep until 5 am in the morning on a workday! That seemed to calm me down and tried to remember to trust my partner and my muscle-memory to guide me – that we had enough practices over the last few months since I joined more than halfway after all the practices. Although I wasn’t always smiling in the final few moments, the lights forced me to concentrate on my partner and where his hands were and my position on the stage (after all I was smack dead-center), I haven’t stopped grinning all night after we NAILED the finale! After the performance we took of course the usual group shots, some dancers were itching to run and other dancers just partied on of and off in one of the hotel rooms on 80-proof Puerto Rican Rum. I took my time getting ready, taking pictures with various STC dancers and reminiscing about our performance, then milled around happily talking to everyone in the Congress that I knew and many who came out to watch congratulated us again and/or wondered how we could get so many dancers on stage and/or who was the choreographer. Another highlight for me was the organizers’ response after the show – Luis Delgado gave me a BIG THUMBS UP as I walked by, but Eli Irizarry actually put his cheek to mine for over 30 seconds and said “Good job” about 5 times – that’s when I knew he was proud of what we did especially after his viewing of our horribly bad first rehearsal in Puerto Rico. Anyways, enough rambling for now as I head off for Frankie Martinez’ workshop! Today there’s the last set of shows and tomorrow, many of us will be going on a catamaran on an island, snorkeling and all-you-can-drink rum drinks all day. Time to Holiday... Celebrate... Hasta la vista, baby! Rose, Toronto STC Coordinator |
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| July, 2002 | |
| July 23, 2002 Salsa Team Canada will be performing in the evening on Friday, August 2nd... which means practice, practice and more practice with very little time to just party! Now that's considered quite an accomplish-ment considering they have never seen our performance before. July 7, 2002 Whew! the last whirlwind round of parties in Ottawa and Toronto are now over, and it's time to get ready for Puerto Rico... Thanks to everyone who supported us to date! |
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| June, 2002 | |
| June 23, 2002 Updates to the Ottawa Party on June 29th, 2002 Updates to the Toronto Party on July 6th, 2002 June 19, 2002 Have you dreamed about going to Puerto Rico? Think it's a little too expensive? Here's a way to help save some $$$ and help Salsa Team Canada at the same time. Salsa Team Canada has a special raffle to win a free Puerto Rico Salsa Congress Pass (worth $350 US) donated by All Star Entertainment. Even if you decide not to go, this Pass can be sold to another dancer. The pass includes: 10 Nights of social dancing Montreal: Sonia - 514-374-7486 or via email |
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| May, 2002 | |
| On July 1st, Salsa Team Canada will be performing live on Parliament Hill in Ottawa! On Sunday, May 12th, over 50 dancers from Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto will meet together in Montreal for their first practice and to party to raise funds for their travel expenses. Your Change to Win an All Day Pass to party in Montreal! Here's your chance to win one of three pairs of all day passes to the Salsa Team Canada's May 12th Fundraiser in Montreal; so if you're looking for an excuse to go out of town and party with fellow Canadians -- this is a party you won't want to miss. If you can't make it out, you still have two more chances to try and win as we'll be in Ottawa on June 29th and in Toronto on July 6th at La Classique. So get ready! |
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| April, 2002 | |
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April 15, 2002 - Salsa
Team Canada gets a call from a school who is looking for our group to
perform and teach school children! |
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| March 31, 2002 | |
| Toronto has confirmed that they will be having a Kick-Off Party and Workshops at Revival Bar on Sunday, April 14th, click here for more info! Ottawa is also having a party that same weekend! |
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| March 23, 2002 | |
| Salsa Fundraising Party and Team Canada Practices in each City: Montreal -- Saturday, May 11th Ottawa -- Saturday, June 29th Toronto -- Saturday, July 6th Other News: Also, Eli Izarry, the organizer of the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress was in town checking out all our dance teams. I was talking to him and he mentioned that they are also working on finalizing an International Dance Competition for Professionals to be held the weekend of July 26-28, 2002. |
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| February 3, 2002 | |
| The auditions are finally over in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal; and there are approximately 7 couples picked out from Ottawa and Toronto, with 15 couples in Montreal -- way to go Sonia -- she actually united many of the dance schools. |
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| November, 2001 - Auditions | |
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To all salsa dancers across Canada! Have you ever dreamed about performing? Then here's your chance to represent Canada in Puerto Rico in 2002. Audition Information and Criteria This in no way excludes dancers from any other part of the country! Everyone is welcome!
We are also seeking members for our organizational committee for choreography, marketing and fundraising -- you do not have to be a dancer to participate on this team! If you feel you can contribute on the level of coordination and fundraising, please let us know! See you
at the auditions and "Que viva la Salsa"!!!! Audition Questionnaire: 1. Are
you interested in performing at the 2002 Bacardi Salsa Congress in San
Juan, Puerto Rico to represent Canada? |
